Monthly employment figures by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released last week after a delay due to a government shutdown, showed that the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs in September, an unexpected rebound for the labor market, according to CNN.<\/p>\n
But despite the gains, the overall unemployment rate edged up to 4.4%. Noticeably, more than 1.9 million with at least a bachelor\u2019s degree were unemployed in September, making up a quarter of all jobless workers, a level never before reached in data going back to 1992, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n
The unemployment rate for those with bachelor\u2019s degrees rose to 2.8%, up 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier, while other education levels saw little or no increase. Younger, recent graduates have also been facing difficulties in securing employment.<\/p>\n
The professional and technical services sector, which includes computer systems design, management and technical consulting, and scientific research and development, recorded a decline in headcount over the first nine months of the year.<\/p>\n
Most of the nation\u2019s job growth in September came from just two sectors: health care and social assistance, and leisure and hospitality. So far this year, they have added 690,000 positions while employment outside these sectors has dropped by roughly 6,000.<\/p>\n
The latest figures arrive against a backdrop of massive layoffs at major U.S. companies, including Amazon, Target, and Starbucks. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, October saw the highest number of job-cut announcements in more than two decades, driven by plans to replace positions with AI.<\/p>\n
In a note released following the September data, Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., warned that rising unemployment among college graduates “should further fuel AI-related job loss fears.”<\/p>\n
While a college degree has long been seen as a ticket to a well-paying job, that perception is shifting as recent graduates face one of the toughest job markets in a decade, with AI playing a role in the trend, CNBC reported.<\/p>\n
While economic worries, persistent inflation, and weaker consumer spending have contributed to fewer entry-level opportunities for graduates, some large employers have said they are replacing these positions with AI in order to streamline operations and cut costs.<\/p>\n